VANT set for release of debut album and headline UK tour

After a succession of tracks that have been playlisted at Radio 1 and which have exceeded 5 million streams at Spotify, VANT are set to release their eagerly anticipated debut album ‘DUMB BLOOD’ on February 17 th on Parlophone.

The fiery punk rock and visceral alt-rock that pulsates through ‘DUMB BLOOD’ is music that incites moshpit bedlam.Their lyrics, however, demand discussion – on Syria, environmentalism, sexual assault, inequality, racism, religion, social media isolation, and the all-out self-destruction of mankind.“Every time we play a show it’s a form of activism, a form of protest,” says singer and centrepoint Mattie Vant. “I wanted to do something that means something, that could have a positive impact. For me, rock music has always gone hand in hand with making a stand, being at the forefront of a movement and trying to change the world.” It’s a stance that’s emphasised throughout the album. Current single ‘PEACE & LOVE’ bewails inequality and the off-hand dismissal of the sixties counterculture ideals in the Brexit age, while other songs traverse the spectrum of social and political issues. The deceptively upbeat Americana of ‘PARKING LOT’ disguises a dissection of sexual boundaries and the rape culture of the US college system, and ‘THE ANSWER’ was Mattie’s brooding, forthright reaction to the chemical attacks and Western invasion of Syria. Elsewhere, ‘LAMPOON’ challenges the way that social media mob rules mutes our increasingly clued-up youth; the new wave garage rock of ‘DO YOU KNOW ME?’ is an autobiographical take on Mattie’s previous jobs in telesales and bartending; and ‘I DON’T BELIEVE IN GOD’ is an atheist anthem revelling in mortality.

The album will be released on CD, vinyl and digital formats as well as an expanded special edition on CD and digital. VANT’s accomplishments to date have encompassed powerful sets at festivals including Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds and Bestival; live shows as far afield as Japan and Norway; and shows with bands as varied as Royal Blood, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Hinds and FIDLAR. The London-based quartet finish their current headline tour tonight at London’s Scala, and they’re now set to play a short tour with Nothing But Thieves before heading to the Netherlands for three shows. They’ve just announced details of their biggest UK and Ireland headline tour to date: